Demythologising librarianship: future librarians in a changing literacy landscape

This statement explores the potential role of librarians in the development of information literacy and research integrity in higher education. We contextualise this in a critical reflection of our own professional careers and practice, within continually changing information, social and political landscapes. We illustrate our development through a critique of our core public work, Enhanced pedagogy for improved information literacy, and a number of other smaller but significant previous public works. We also examine some of the narratives which surround the ‘Google Generation’, academia and librarianship and demythologise the context in which we operate.
To inform the future development of our professional role we investigate information literacy concepts and models, the obstacles to the wider adoption of information literacy in higher education curricula, the skills and attributes that the librarian of the future can bring to its achievement and how the public works are a continuous response to change. Our insight and understanding are further informed by the opinions of academic colleagues following a series of in-depth interviews. We consider their views and the implications these have for our own learning and the development of our professional identity, within both higher education and our own university.
Throughout this statement we show how our previous and core public works have influenced and informed our thinking, our practice and the recommendations that we make.